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Author: Al_Razza, Contributing Editor
| So you read the first part of this article and thought maybe you would try this paint skin thing, or perhaps you left just thinking it’s just another gimmick. Well, for those of you who tried it and found out it isn’t as easy as it looks. Keep trying. And for those who thought, is that all there is to it? I have something for you.
We’ve all heard about mixed mediums. It has been a popular approach to painting since Picasso’s Synthetic Cusbism was born in the early 20th Century. It sounds funny to think it was 100 years ago. Anyway, let me show you how the process can be elaborated on. If you haven’t read part one, please go back and do so now. Paint-Skin Collage and Mosaic. So you made your first paint-skin and it looks pretty good; but what do you do with it? You could just leave it as is, and maybe that would be just fine. But now you have a surface to work with. Let’s try something simple first. |
| Begin by mounting it on a canvas or board. Use wet acrylic paint or polymer to bond it to the surface, and let it dry for an hour. You can use multi-purpose floor adhesive as well, specially if the skin is large, say over 3 feet wide.
Now take oil painting glaze and simply wash the surface with it. A medium solution of equal parts Damar varnish, linseed oil and pure gum turpentine works well. Synthetic premixed mediums are a good alternative. Add any color you like to the solution to make a rich but translucent hue. Now that you have washed the surface, you may see some beading of undissolved color. Take a cotton rag and wipe the surface, which will give the surface a polished patina. This can be done multiple times and with varied degrees of color and wiping. You may wish to wait over night to give the medium some time to cure and thereby making it a little resistant to wiping. When complete, you should have a surface somewhat like a “varnished” fresco or acid washed wall. This can be a very messy and smelly process. If you don’t like the smell of oil paint or turpentine, I suggest you use odorless turpenoid but the messy part you will have to deal with in your own way. I work very large and for me this is always a time where the process has to be reckoned with. I like the effect so… |
| Next try cutting all the skin into small pieces or tiles before mounting and repeat the above process.
The result will be like a faux aged stucco wall but with much more color peeking through. The washed color will settle into the low areas, and all the remaining high areas will be the base acrylic colors. If you paint in tinted shadows, a peculiar sense of space and depth will emerge. |
| Titled Pangea, this piece measures 55"h x 40"w and was done by cutting the acrylic paint skin into pieces, then each piece was collaged back together again. Next, areas of the surface were washed with a purple oil glaze.
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| Now again, you have surface you can leave as is or continue to build on. Try painting with oils over the paint skin surface, with an array of images or just create abstract shapes.
So you think; why would I just cover up the painted skin? I could just use modeling paste to create a textured surface. Not so Grasshopper. The paint skin is much more intricate and, at times, smooth as silk. Small sections of color should be allowed to peek through, which will give you a rich appearance. |
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